'Incredibly honoured': Sirisha Bandla to become second Indian-born woman to fly into space

Indian-American Sirisha Bandla will be flying to space with Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic’s billionaire founder, and four others on July 11. Announced on Friday, the mission will take off nine days ahead of the departure of billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ trip to space, which was announced last month. Bandla, who was born in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and grew up in Houston, Texas, will be the second India-born woman to go to space after Kalpana Chawla. 

Bandla's role will be that of a researcher experience. The 34-year-old aeronautical engineer, who graduated from Purdue University, will be the fourth Indian to fly into space after Rakesh Sharma, Kalpana Chawla, and Sunita Lyn Williams. Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister NN Chandrababu Naidu also tweeted saying that “Indian-origin women continue to break the proverbial glass ceiling and prove their mettle”. 

About Sirisha Bandla

According to reports, Bandla started working at Virgin Galactic in 2015 and is currently the vice president of government affairs and research operations of the company. Her father Muralidhar Bandla, an agriculture scientist, migrated to the United States for better opportunities. He is presently working with the US Embassy in India.

Bandla reportedly studied aeronautical/astronautical engineering from Purdue University and has an MBA degree from George Washington University. She has served as the associate director for the commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry association of commercial spaceflight companies. She was also an aerospace engineer designing components for advanced aircraft at L-3 Communications in Greenville, Texas. 

Meanwhile, Virgin Galactic’s rocket ship is set to take off from New Mexico on July 11. This will be the fourth trip to space for Virgin Galactic. Richard Branson’s successful maiden flight in VSS Unity spaceplane will mark a key milestone in a new era of private commercial space travel. Branson and Bandla will be joined by Virgin Galactic’s chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses and lead operations engineer Colin Bennett on the flight. Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci will pilot the Unity spacecraft.

(Image: Twitter/INSTAGRAM)